It All Comes To an
End
Educational
Psychology allows educators to think outside of the box. It allows us to be
creative and more hands on in our approach to create a curriculum that will not
only motivate our students but prepare them for society. It discusses how humans
learn and develop in educational settings, interventions used, and social
issues that could effect learning. This field of study also describes the
intrinsic workings of the fundamentals of education as it pertains to theories,
frameworks, and approaches to education. During this class, we have had the
opportunity to study, research, and hopefully implement our findings and new
found knowledge into our classrooms.
I
remember taking educational psychology in undergrad and I don’t remember
enjoying it as much as I do now. I found that I can relate to the information
more now, now that I am a teacher and see firsthand how theories are
implemented in the classroom setting. When thinking of a theorist that I most
agree with, I choose Jean Piaget. Piaget was a Swiss psychologist whose research
proved that children’s cognitive development occurs primarily in actions with
physical objects. He also developed the stages of development which are sensorimotor
(Birth through ages 18-24 months), preoperational (Toddlerhood 18-24 months
through early childhood (age 7), concrete operational (ages 7 to 12), and formal
operational (adolescence through adulthood). Through these stages humans
cognitive developments progresses greatly overtime. In the sensorimotor stage,
it focuses upon how babies see and experiment with their environment developing
their language and physical development causing their cognitive development to
increase. During this time, babies are given visual and physical cues that will
allow them to develop gripping, grasping, cuing, kicking, crawling, and sitting
to name a few. In the preoperational stage, it describes children use their
intuition and symbols to develop memory and imagination. This is shown through
visuals such pictures or textured materials. We see signs of this prominently
in the dramatic play area and social interactions with one another. During the
concrete stage, humans begin to use reversible mental actions and are aware of external
events. In the formal stage, the final stage adolescents are able to use
symbols to make connections and understand concepts within their environment. I
have taught prekindergarten for nearly five years and was a kindergarten
teacher last year. I have substituted in classes ranging from infancy to fifth
grade. All children are different and learn differently. With the guidance of
Piaget’s stages, I am more aware of what to look for cognitively and socially within
my students. Hands on approaches, rather than pencil and paper, in my opinion
helps establish a more cognitive strengthening curriculum. My students are
engaged in their learning process and I am able to assess them as well as myself
on how to improve information being delivered and how it is used.
As a
preschool teacher, I found that the most learning in my opinion takes place
during the ages of two to four years old. Children are learning social and
emotional skills, mathematic basics, science, social studies, language and
literacy, and so forth. They are using their memory and new information to form
decisions and actions that show cognitive development. My favorite learning
centers are math/manipulative and dramatic play. Their imaginations run wild
and their potential is limitless.
During
the course of this class, we used Annual Editions Educational Psychology 12/13.
This collection of articles have broaden my knowledge about factors that could
positively, as well as negatively affect our classroom and school districts.
Over the course of the class we discussed topics: approached to learning,
social development, the differences in learners with disabilities, gender and
cultural diversity, cognition development, technology, classroom management, student
motivation, and classroom and school assessments. This week, we discussed
assessments and multiple measures and how they may hinder our students’ and
school’s overall progress. Through nonroutine uses of the content in these databases,
the brain creates the richer, deeper, and more complex connections necessary
for understanding. Without these connections, isolated bits of information may
not get incorporated into the larger schema and thus may not be retained.
(Conley, D., 2013, p. 244) If students are not mastering and fully have a grasp
on the material being taught and cannot apply it, then students will not be able
to move forward and testing will not fully assess their knowledge and
capabilities within the content. We are then setting them up to fail.
This class
had broaden my spectrum and understanding on the inner workings of student
learning process and the policy and social stigma that may delay adequate progress
within schools. I hope that I can apply this knowledge effectively within my
classroom and community. Thank you, Dr. Reed.
References:
Conley, D. (2013) Building on the Common Core. Annual Editions Educational Psychology 12/13.
244-246.